The papers of Jane L. Stanford pertain largely to the founding and administration of Stanford University, along with her personal
and social affairs; included in the papers are correspondence, business records, legal and financial papers, speeches, newsclippings,
and biographical materials.

Background

Jane Eliza Lathrop was born August 25, 1828, the daughter of Dyer Lathrop of Albany, New York. In 1850 she married Leland
Stanford, returning with him to California in 1855 where they settled in Sacramento. Leland Stanford later became President
of the Southern Pacific Railroad and Governor of California. Their only child, Leland Stanford, Jr., was born in 1868. During
a European tour in 1884 he contracted typhoid fever and died in Florence, Italy. In 1885, Jane and Leland Stanford founded
the Leland Stanford Junior University, in memory of their son. Jane was a full partner with her husband in the planning of
the University, which opened in the fall of 1891. After her husband's death in 1893, she overcame great financial hardships
to keep the University open until her husband's estate was settled. Thereafter, she directed expansion of the campus. She
died on February 28, 1905 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Extent

10.5 Linear feet

Restrictions

Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections and University
Archives.